


Traditions

by Crystalmind



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hunk is an excellent matchmaker, M/M, PINING KEITH, Random aliens i made up, Space Shenanigans, lance is just all around a dork??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-19 09:38:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9433289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalmind/pseuds/Crystalmind
Summary: After an old tradition among the paladins of Voltron is brought up, maybe a community service trip to a desert alien planet is exactly the kind of bonding opportunity Keith and Lance need.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My group chat secret santa gift for Ev! Sorry it's so late, i'll be uploading the other part(s?) of it soon!

“You know,” Allura said casually at breakfast one day, her eyes not moving from the holographic screen in front of her that fed her that morning’s updates, “There's a sort of tradition among the paladins of Voltron, where the red and blue paladin end up together. Weird how it works.” She shrugged and stabbed a piece of the food goo on her plate.

Everyone at the table fell silent, and all eyes switched to Lance and Keith, who were current in the middle of a heated argument about who needed the salt shaker. The two boys were on the edges of their seats facing one another, with their hands wrapped around the small shaker, attempting to dominate the other. Lance pulled a little harder, while Keith scowled at him.

“Dude, you’re not even using it right now! Just give it to me!” Lance whined, and attempted one more yank, but Keith’s grip remained.

“Do you know how rude that is? Who says I wasn't using the salt? Maybe you should try asking for things before you just grab for them!” He pulled, and Lance wobbled and released his grip, his hand falling smack into the middle of Keith’s plate. Lance was about to open his mouth in protest when Pidge snickered, and both boys turned away from their argument to the rest of the people at the table.

“Uh, is everyone staring at us?” Lance leaned over and whispered to Keith, who nodded in response. “Um, does anyone want to explain why it's suddenly the Lance and Keith show?” Lance wiped his hand off on his pants and crossed his arm, staring back at his fellow paladins.

“Oh, nothing,” Pidge smirked. “I think we’re all just trying to figure out if tradition will continue.” She looked away and started studying a piece of stray goo on the table as if it was the most interesting thing in the galaxy.

“What tradition?” Keith snapped, and looked over at the princess. She sighed, and took a deep breath, as if exasperated to have to explain it twice.

“What I said while you two were busy fighting over salt was that there's a funny little “tradition” where the red and blue paladins often times end up together.” Her hands clasped together and she rested her chin on them, a smug smile resting on her face. “I just remembered it this morning and thought it would be fun to share.”

The sound of a chair pushing back abruptly jerked everyone's focus back to the two boys standing, and Keith muttered something about training, and stalked off. His face was turned, but the barest hint of an embarrassed flush was on his cheeks. Lance had plopped down in his seat and started shoveling food goo into it furiously, his face also noticeably pinker.

Hunk took in a deep breath and looked around the table. Pidge was silently snickering into her hand, while Shiro seemed very invested in the goo on his plate. Allura acted as if she didn't even notice that anything had happened.

“So, do we have anything planned, Allura?” He spoke nervously, attempting to cut through the tension in the air. Allura raised her gaze again, and stood up from the table to address the remaining paladins.

“I do wish Keith hadn’t left yet, I was going to inform all of you about our plans for today. We’ll be landing on the planet Xerus, but just for some service assistance, there shouldn't be any major issues that occur. As defenders of the galaxy, you must be willing to provide assistance to any who ask for it,” She smiled, and stepped back from the table. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the castle’s main helm.”

Shiro pushed away his bowl, and proceeded to stand up as well. “We should go get Keith, I guess, if we’re leaving soon. I can go grab him, while the rest of you head out to your lions.” He made a start for the training rooms, while the other paladins mulled about, but right as he was about to disappear around the corner, Hunk came jogging forward.

“Hey, Shiro, you should go with the others to the Lions. I’ll get Keith.” He flashed him a thumbs up, and sped off to the training deck before Shiro could do anything.

As Hunk rounded the corner to enter the training deck, he could already hear the crash and clang of the training gladiator being pushed to their limits, and he entered the deck with only the hiss of the automatic doors to signal his arrival. Keith, occupied with beating the program, dodged and swiped, before hitting the gladiator right in the chest with the heel of his sword so hard that it wobbled and crashed to the floor. Within a matter of seconds, Keith had his heel pinned to the dummy, and his bayard sword right at its throat. He took a deep breath and wiped the sheen of sweat from his forehead with his arm.

“End program.” He panted, and once the gladiator had vanished away, he paced over to the water station, grabbed a bottle, and took a deep drink. He spied Hunk out of the corner of his eye, and turned around, tilting his head to ask why he was there.

“Keith, we’re getting ready to head out in the lions. Allura gave us instructions that we were helping out on another planet today, and we’re leaving soon. Keith?” Hunk had turned to head back out the door, but realized that the other boy wasn't making any movements to follow him. He retraced his steps, and approached Keith, who sat on one of the benches in the vast space.

“Keith, we’re leaving soon. Everything alright?” He gently placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder, right as he buried his face in his hands.

“Why did Allura have to say that crap at breakfast today?” He grumbled into his cupped hands, which Hunk could just barely make out. A little surprised, Hunk took his hand off of Keith and paused for a moment, before deciding to plop down on the bench next to Keith. He raised his gaze up to the blank white ceiling of the training deck.

“I’m sure she was just poking some harmless fun. I don’t think the princess would ever intentionally try to embarrass you and Lance like that… As much as we know Allura, she’s still Altean, so they might have different customs concerning those kinds of conversations… Besides, you and Lance are always fighting over something, so she probably  saw an opportunity to make a joke, and rolled with it.” He fixed his eyes back on Keith, and saw the red paladin staring furiously at a spot on the floor.

“Keith…?”

“Hah, yeah, a joke. Because me and Lance are always at each other’s throats, so if that ‘tradition’ remained true, then it would be funny…” His face turned red and he dropped his head in his hands. “Really funny. What am I even saying?”

Hunk sat in silence after Keith spoke, but as soon as the gears clicked into place in his head, his eyes opened wider, and a grin shifted onto his face.

“Woah, no way, you totally like Lance! I don’t think I saw that one com-”

“SHHH! Are you crazy?” Keith sprang up and pressed his hand against Hunk’s mouth. “You don’t know who could be listening in, there’s probably weird cameras set up in here, did you just lick my hand?” He snatched his ungloved palm away just as quickly as he had placed it, and wiped it off on the hem of Hunk’s shirt.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Hunk took a pause, and a deep breath in before continuing. “If you don't want me to say anything, that's cool, my lips are sealed.” He mimed a zipping action and then threw away an imaginary key. Keith let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Hunk. We should probably head for the lions though…” he looked out the door, and Hunk nodded his head, beginning the trek to the hangar where the Lions lay.


	2. Community Service

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2! I think it will be about 2-3 more parts until this is totally finished!

“Hunk, Keith, you were gone a long time. Were you two having a bonding moment without me?” Lance’s teasing voice rang out through the lion’s intercom system, and Keith squeezed the control handle of his lion just a little bit tighter at the blue paladin’s quip.

“I misplaced my bayard and was trying to find it. And it's not like I owe you any explanations anyways!” He huffed into his helmet’s mic, before quickly changing the subject. “What planet did Allura say we were going to again?”

“It’s called Xerus. Apparently we’re just going to help the locals with some community service since one of their cities was ravaged in a bad storm.” Shiro spoke into his mic. “Allura, are we all set to go?”

“Just a few more tics, paladins, and… there!” Allura’s cheerful voice rang out just as the blue wormhole opened up in front of where the lions hovered. “Let’s head off, paladins!”

All the lions rose and moved towards the pulsing blue glow in the sky, but right before the lions passed through, Keith swore he heard Lance grumble into his headset.

“You took your bayard with you into the training deck, Keith.”

Keith shook his head quickly before flying into the light, ready to push out all other thoughts except the task on hand. He looked around and saw the other lions drifting about in the warp space, before the motion blur died down and a lush green planet popped into the scene.

“Woah, is this Xerus? It's so lively! This place doesn't even look like terrible city-smashing storms occur here!” Pidge’s excitement rang out over the speakers. Allura chuckled, and Coran piped up with some extra information.

“Xerus has a rather lush terrain, but on many parts of the planet, sand covers as far as the eye can see, so cities near these sand banks suffer from rather vicious sandstorms. They can be quite destructive!”

“So we’re helping the Xerusites rebuilt their city?” Lance mused. “Alright, I’m down for a little community service. Maybe we’ll even get a chance to show off how awesome our lions are!”

“Did he wink?” Hunk popped into the speakers.

“Probably.” Keith said, and began the descend, following Shiro’s lead. The lions flew just over the treetops of the planet, before passing through a stretch with nothing but swirling tan sands below, and settling down on the shifting ground right on the edge of what must have been a village. It was hard to tell, since many of the houses seemed to be broken down, or buried underneath the sands.

The paladins exited the lions, with the castleship landing a littler further behind. Once Allura and Coran had reached the team, they grouped together, trekking through the sand until they reached the center of town. A short brown creature covered in scales stood in the center, giving orders to cleanup crews, but quickly turned around to face the new arrivals.

“The paladins of Voltron! The stories we hear are true! Welcome to Xerus, I am Nythanium, elected mayor of our settlement! On behalf of our people, I would like to say that we are honored to have you here for our simple cleanup service.”

Shiro smiled at the alien. “I’m that when I say we’re more than happy to lend help to any who need it, I don’t just speak for us all.” The other Xerusites in the crowd clapped their hands together in awe, and soon all the paladins were being scurried off into different sections of town to help with the cleanup effort.

Lance and Pidge trudged over with their group where they began the process of helping clear sand out of the buildings that remained standing, when Hunk scooched past with Keith and grabbed Pidge by the arm.

“Hey, Pidge, maybe you should come help me rig up the rebuilding plans for the city? Let’s go!” He headed back in the opposite direction immediately, with Pidge struggling to keep up, shooting Lance an apologetic glance before bursting into ideas for the new city plan. Nobody caught the deathly stare that Keith shot the yellow paladin.

If looks could kill, Hunk would've already been dead.

“Um, hello? Earth to Keith? Are you gonna grab a broom and help or what? Zoning out like a nutcase isn't going to help clear the quiznacking tons of sand inside.” Lance began tapping his booted foot against the stone ground, before sighing and thrusting a broom and shovel into Keith’s unsuspecting arms.

“Whatever. Just know that I’ll clear more sand than you. Blue paladin for the win!” He ran off towards the buildings, and Keith shook his head, clearing his mind.

“If he thinks that’s going to get to me…” He growled, before jogging in Lance’s direction to catch up with the other boy.

The two shoveled and swept piles and piles of sand into carts to be wheeled away, and after what felt like forever, both boys could be seen slumped against the now exposed stone walls, small cups of water in their hands. Keith downed his in one go, and Lance eyed him wearily.

“It feels like there’s sand in all of my crevices. Yeesh.” He shuddered, scratching at his neck. Lance pulled off his boot, dumping a pile of sand onto the floor that got caught in a sudden windstorm and smacked right into his hair.

“Ugh! Get it out! Get it out!” He jumped around frantically, shaking his head like a dog. In his moment of wild scrambling, Lance knocked over his water cup, slipped on the puddle, and crashed to the ground.

“You didn’t see anything, got it, Keith?” Lance’s face flushed bright red, and he wiped sandy mud off of his armor, before turning his head in surprise at the sound of light laughter.

“Keith? Wha- are you laughing at me? I can’t believe that you were here to witness my one moment of weakness…” He melodramatically put his hand on his forehead and pretended to swoon, only resulting in another bout of giggling from Keith.

“Heh…” Lance cracked a grin, and began to break out into laughter of his own. The two boys were hunched over, their bodies shaking, and several Xerusites paused their shoveling and sweeping progress to observe the scene. After a few minutes, their laughter calmed down, and Keith began to cough.

“Ugh, there’s sand in my mouth. Blehh,” He spit onto the sand, and stuck out his tongue, expressing his distaste. “We should probably start shoveling again, we lost a lot of time just now. I’ll go get some more water for us.” He shuffled away, the sand crunching underneath the weight of his feet.

  
Keith had vanished into the distance, yet Lance caught himself staring at the space where he had been moments ago for a lot longer than he should have. He shook his head to clear it out, before grasping one hand around his abandoned shovel and tackling the next buried corner of the building.


	3. On Board

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a long time! I have had stuff going on so I wasn't really able to do much of my own writing (boo school >:( ) This chapter is kind of short, but hopefully you enjoy it! 
> 
> If you have any questions please comment or send me a message on my tumblr https://www.lancemcclainofficial.tumblr.com !

The light in the sky had settled down to a dim glow by the time the paladins had finished their work. With everyone working together, a large amount of the city had been uncovered from the sand, and many of the Xerusites had headed off to gather materials to begin their rebuilding process. The mayor of the town was chatting with Allura, profusely thanking her for providing the assistance, while Coran was busy fighting off a few Xerusite children who were trying to grab for his mustache.

The paladins mulled about in the center of the city, and Pidge marveled over the architecture of the city.

“They’ve built these buildings to withstand thousands of years of wear from all the sand storms, and the only affected parts were the oldest parts of the city! Nearly 4,000 years of wear and tear before finally giving out!” Her eyes sparkled as she crouched down to inspect the material in the walls.

“And only because the storm was the worst one ever recorded!” A local piped up from behind, waddling over to where Pidge was. “Thanks to you and your other friend’s ideas, we should be able to prepare for future events and rebuild even stronger!” 

While the two chatted it up, Hunk came up behind Keith and tapped his shoulder. The other boy jumped a little, startled, and turned his head to see Hunk grinning at him with amusement.

“It’s just me, dude. Sorry for lumping you on sand work initially. I just thought it might…” He trailed off, looking to Keith to fill in the rest.

“You’re fine, Hunk. It really wasn’t that bad.” He paused when he noticed Lance moving over to join the two. “Shoveling sand is definitely not the worst thing I've had to do in my life.”

“I don’t know, Keith, I still have sand everywhere,” Lance complained, before scratching behind his ear and staring at the small pile of sand that fell out. “See!” He pointed angrily at the ground, before shaking his head. “How did you just not get any sand on you? Must be some kind of space witchcraft.” Lance grumbled, and Keith crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, while Hunk stifled a laugh.

“Hey guys, looks like Allura’s headed this way. I think we’re just about ready to head out.” Shiro moved from the wall he was leaned against, and started towards the princess. He jogged ahead, and began to chat with Allura, while the rest of the group slowly trudged their way over.  

Pidge and Lance grouped together and began to complain about the abundance of sand on the planet, while Keith stuck to the back, taking his time. He began kicking up clouds of dust absently while the others moved ahead. The voices grew distant, but Keith didn’t notice until he heard loud crunching sounds heading his way. He looked up, and saw the blue gleam of Lance’s paladin armor. He scowled a little, annoyed at having his time alone disturbed, but Lance said nothing, content to just walk next to him. Finally, the two caught up to the group, and Pidge shot both boys a strange look, before shrugging and climbing the ramp back into the castle.

Once everyone had made it inside, Lance immediately popped his chest armor off, shaking sand out of every crevice that he could find. He grabbed onto Hunk’s arm, and began hopping up and down, shaking his head out furiously. Sand went in every direction, and whipped Keith and Pidge in the face. Pidge threw her arms in front of her face, scuttling away from the danger zone.

“Aw, Lance, c’mon! What was that for? I’m glad I still have my helmet on, but I don’t think Keith was so lucky.” She jabbed a thumb at Keith, who was spitting out the sand that had flew into his slightly agape mouth. 

Lance’s face pulled into one of regret, and he opened his mouth, but Keith waved a hand.

“It’s fine. Besides, I’ve got so much sand one myself that i’ll have plenty of opportunities to get back at you.”

Lance narrowed his eyes and was about to reply, Hunk cackling in the background, when Shiro put a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“I’m sure the sand pranks are fun and all, but we probably shouldn’t be tracking this stuff everywhere. Allura, should we go to the decontamination chamber?” His eyes looked hopeful, and he looked to the princess for a response. She put her hand on her chin in thought, and nodded slowly.

“Yes, I do suppose that would be the best way to get rid of all this pesky sand! It’s so coarse and rough, and it gets everywhere. Coran, can you set go and get the chamber ready for activation?” 

“Sure thing, princess!” Coran piped up, and immediately dashed off to ready the chamber for its cycle. 

Pidge groaned, and tried to move further into the castle, but Shiro caught her arm, and gave her a look.

“Aw, Shiro, you know I hate the chamber! Every time we get in it I just get blown around like some kind of paper doll, and you have the time of your life getting your hair blow dried!” Her shoulders slumped, and she moved away from the door, heading back to the group. “Fine. But I’m clinging to Hunk so I don’t get blown away.” She stuck her helmet back on her head and stalked in the direction that Coran had gone. Hunk trailed behind her, and Shiro motioned for Keith and Lance to follow suite.

“Man! And I was so looking forward to pouring leftover sand in your bed!” Lance laughed, nudging Keith’s shoulder. “I don’t know how you planned on getting me back, though. I’m a prank  _ expert _ .” He grinned, nose turning up to the ceiling.

Keith shrugged. “I was just gonna like, sprinkle sand on your food or something. I didn’t really go into detail with it.”

Lance looked appalled. 

“You were gonna feed me sand? Dude, that’s crossing the line.” He shook his head in amusement. “But in all seriousness, I’m definitely getting a rash, and that decontamination chamber sounds really good right now.” He picked up his chestplate and slid it back on, then slid his helmet under his arm. He walked away, before turning back.

“You coming?”

“Uh, yeah.” Keith popped his helmet back on so that Lance wouldn’t see his sudden blush, and lowered the barrier, moving past Lance quickly.  
Keith made a mental note to stop being left alone with Lance, at all costs.


	4. Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another somewhat short chapter... Hope you enjoy! :3c
> 
> Thank you for all your kudos and kind comments on my fic, it's a big motivation for me to keep writing!

“Uuuuuugh.” Keith groaned and flopped down on his bed, finally out of the stiff armor and into his familiar plainclothes. He slipped his arm through the sleeve of his jacket, feeling the worn fabric settle over his skin, and pulling it around his body. He moved to stretch out, content to settle down into the soft mattress underneath him, but a growl from his stomach said otherwise. Sighing, he pushed himself up and slowly stood from the bed, giving it a longing glance before trudging out of the room, the automatic doors opening with a hiss before him.

The other Paladins had eaten dinner without him, as Keith had grumbled some excuse about going to train, that he wasn’t hungry, ignoring Shiro’s accusing stare as he ducked out of the dining hall.

Anything to avoid another awkward meal situation with Allura and Lance.

The kitchen was empty, as Keith had suspected, and he dug around for a bowl before pouring out a glob of green food goo for his meal. He grimaced a little, wishing Hunk was up to help spice up the bland mush, but he took his plate without complaint and sat down on the floor, back against the island in the middle of the room.

The bottom of the bowl was scraped clean, and Keith poured himself a glass of water before heading out, ready to go through the hall to his room, when he heard the squeaking shift of shoes in the main helm.

Was there an intruder on board? An image of some lost Xerusite accidentally slipping onboard the giant castleship raced through Keith's mind, or maybe an actual enemy, but he steeled himself and pulled out his knife from his belt after setting his water on the ground, arms poised in defense. He stepped into the room, but dropped his knife when he saw who was inhabiting the room.

Lance sat quietly on the ground, staring out of the giant window of the helm, as the castle floated in space. He didn't even notice Keith come in, and tucked his knees under his chin.

Keith felt as though he were intruding on something oddly personal, and moved to leave, but his shoe accidentally squeaked on the shiny linoleum, and he closed his eyes and grimaced, knowing there was no way he could slip out unnoticed now.

“Who’s there?” Lance whipped his head around, shoulders tense, his legs moving to a standing position. Keith stood in the doorway, avoiding looking at Lance, before looking around and meeting his confused gaze.

“Oh. It’s just you. Hey Keith.” Lance relaxed a little, before raising an eyebrow and fixing Keith with an analyzing stare. “Why are you up?”

Keith shifted his weight and took a step inside the room. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Lance glanced back out the huge window, and took a seat on the ledge that he had earlier been learning against.

“I dunno, sometimes I come out here when everyone’s asleep just to take it all in. There’s so much out there that we haven’t seen…” Lance trailed off, and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, you probably don’t wanna hear about that.”

“What? No!” Keith hurriedly exclaimed, his voice taking on a strangely frantic pitch. Lance raised his eyebrows in amusement, then shrugged and looked back out the window.

“You ok dude? You’ve been asking super weird all day. Was it the thing Allura said at breakfast? Trust me, that was pretty embarrassing for me too, if you can believe it.” He let out a slightly nervous laugh, shaking his head. Lance turned back to face Keith, who was still awkwardly standing in the middle of the room.

“Yeah, that was pretty embarrassing… Well, uh, I should probably leave?” Keith made to move out of the doorway and back to the safety of his room, wracked with nerves at the idea of being alone with Lance once again. He turned on his heel and was almost out of the room when he heard Lance speak.

“I mean, you don’t have to leave.”

Keith’s heart skipped a beat, and he froze in place. Every instinct he had screamed at him to move, to get out and save himself from a potentially compromising situation, yet he found his feet moving of their own accord and heading towards Lance’ figure on the floor. He took a seat, and the two boys sat in awkward silence for a few minutes before Keith coughed.

“So you do this every night when we’re asleep?” Keith’s eyes never left the window, nor did he look at Lance. If he had, he would have seen Lance’s deep blue eyes staring intently at him, as if he was boring a hole through his body.

Lance shook his head, and leaned back, laying out on the floor. “Not every night, but maybe like three times a week? It’s always interesting because the stars are different wherever we go. It’s kind of sad though, since none of the constellations are ones that you could see back on earth.”

Keith nodded in agreement. “When I was out in the desert by myself, I spent a lot of time just sitting on the porch, memorizing the constellations.” Lance made a squeak of surprise shooting up, and Keith flushed a deep red, narrowing his eyes as he turned to face his friend. “Why does that seem so shocking to you? I had a lot of extra time to spend, and contrary to what I hear you guys say about me, I don’t just spend all day throwing knives at the wall.”

It was Lance’s turn to blush, and he ducked his head sheepishly, avoiding Keith’s amused but accusatory stare.

“Who blabbed? Was it Hunk? I bet it was Hunk. I’m not gonna retract my statement, though.” He let out a quiet chuckle. Keith joined in, a soft sound, and Lance turned to face him, a look of awe on his face. 

“You hardly laugh, yet somehow my joke about throwing knives got to you. You’re something else, man.” Lance put his arms behind his head and slowly lowered himself back to the ground. “I think today was one of the first times where I really saw you lose it.”

“I dunno, I guess there’s just something about seeing the great Lance slip and fall on his ass in the muddy sand.” Keith looked incredibly smug, but Lance’s eyebrows furrowed, and the other boy wondered why he wasn’t responding in his usual snarky way.

“Lance?”

“You think I’m great?” Lance said each word carefully, as if he was checking to make sure each word was safe.

Keith, who was tired of blushing at this point, nearly turned the color of his jacket, and he stammered to cover his tracks.

“What? I, no, shit, I mean… yeah, I guess so. You’re not AS bad as you were when I first met you… I couldn’t stand you then.” He laughed nervously, and moved to get up, but Lance reached out to grab his jacket, and Keith sat back down.

“Thanks, I guess. That’s probably the nicest thing you’ve said to me.” He laughed, and looked back out to the helm’s window, staring into the void of space for a few minutes in silence. After a few minutes, he took a breath and spoke quietly.

“Since none of the constellations are ones that I could see from Earth, coming out here really makes me think about how much I miss home. I want to go back, but when i look around, everyone else has their place here, they have something they’re working towards. Where does that put me?” He chuckled softly, letting the silence fill up the space between him and Keith.

“You don’t have to know what your goal is, as long as you’re working as part of the team, that’s something.” Keith spoke up. 

Lance let out a laugh, and Keith looked at him in confusion.

“Never thought I’d be getting decent life advice from our resident edge-lord.” 

Keith rolled his eyes, and Lance laughed again.

“I’m serious! You never struck me as the ‘stare out into the stars and talk about life’ kind of guy. You’re not half bad yourself.” He grinned to himself, and it was Keith’s turn to stare out into the softly glowing space surrounding the ship.

The two sat in silence again, but this time it was more comfortable. Keith lay out on the ground next to Lance, and took in the glowing light from the stars and technology surrounding them, thinking about everything that had just happened. Tired of the voice in his head that had never stopped yelling at him to leave, Keith blocked it out to focus on what was happening around him, and closed his eyes.


	5. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I would really really like to apologize for how long it's been since the last update. I got really busy at the end of the school year, and I couldn't seem to find a way to pick up from where I left off when writing this chapter. Then I just kept putting it off, even thought I REALLY wanted to write this and publish it and see my story come to life. Writers block works in strange and mysterious ways. I'm in senior year now, and things were crazy for me with college apps and such, but now that life has settled down for me, I've finally gotten the inspiration to complete this chapter. This may be the last part, but I might add one last conclusion chapter, since there's some things I really want to write for this scenario. Thank you for reading my work, and I hope this can make up for the months of neglect that I've given to this fic.
> 
> Check out this beautiful commission I had done of the star scene! It was my favorite part to write, and I really wanted to see it visualized.  
> http://luxites.tumblr.com/post/166119569382/commission-for-lancemcclainofficial
> 
> Happy reading :)

Warm, familiar hands were gently wrapped around his arm, shaking him slightly. Keith opened his eyes a crack, and looked up, still groggy. Hunk’s yellow clad form could be seen above him, and Keith lazily shrugged his arm out of the boy’s grasp, sitting up. He could feel a pain in his back beginning to bloom, and he struggled to remember why he was lying on the floor of the command center.

“Hunk? What time is it? Why are you…” He trailed off, last night’s events rushing into his mind. “Oh shit!” He sprang up, and looked next to him, Lance’s peaceful form thoroughly passed out.

“Soooooo, I’m assuming you had a fairly eventful night, huh?” Hunk shot him a smug grin, as if he were pleased with himself. Keith shook his head, and stalked away, but he stopped and looked down, before looking back at Hunk.

“I just came to get some food, and Lance was just in here by himself. He didn’t really want to be alone, so what was I gonna do? Just reject the guy? I mean I hoped that maybe after our trip yesterday he would want to get closer, but I’m such an idiot. There’s no way he’d ever be into me.”

“Into what?” A voice from the floor was heard, still groggy with sleep. 

Keith froze, and turned around, seeing Lance propping himself up off the floor, and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His entire body flushing red, he pushed past Hunk and dashed out of the room. In his race to get out before any more questions were asked, he knocked over the water glass he had set out last night and made a dash for his safe haven: the training deck.

Lance stared out of the room in surprise, mouth slightly agape, and he looked up at Hunk from where he sat on the floor.

“What was that about? Is he all right?” He rubbed the back of his head, a puzzled look on his face. Hunk patted his shoulder.

“Keith is just, working through some stuff. He’ll be fine. We should probably head to the dining hall, I’m sure Allura and the others are waiting for us.” He offered Lance a hand, and Lance gingerly accepted, allowing his body to be pulled up. Hunk headed out of the room, but Lance remained in his place, deep in thought. He looked over near the door, and saw Hunk waiting for him.

“What Keith was saying just before he left the room… does he  _ like _ me?”

Hunk’s shoulders tensed up slightly, before relaxing. He turned around and strode over to Lance, pulling him close.

“You came to that conclusion on your own, so he CAN’T get mad at me for spilling.” He released Lance, and moved out the door. “I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to come to breakfast late. Maybe you should hit up the training deck?” He grinned over his shoulder, before vanishing out of sight.

Lance continued to stand in the center of the room, slightly confused. Keith, quick to jump into a fight,the team hothead, liked him? It seemed almost unbelievable, but then he remembered the soft smile that had grown on Keith’s face as he had discussed the stars, and other things from his life, and swallowed that thought. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he took off in a sprint towards the training deck.

The sound of sword clashing against sword could be heard from down the hall before one even entered the room, and Lance figured he could slip in relatively unnoticed until Keith had finished his set. He opened the doors with a hiss, and crept around the wall, staring at the boy in the center of the room, fighting off the robotic gladiator with apparent ease. Had it not been for the layer of sweat coating Keith’s forehead, nobody would have ever guessed that it was difficult for him.

Lance thought his plan had gone off without a hitch, but Keith must have spotted him out of the corner of his eye, and he lost his balance and slipped onto the ground, just barely pushing his bayard up in time to block the gladiator’s attack. He struggled to push the weight off so he could stand up, but fell down, and rolled to avoid having his leg shish-kebobed.

“END TRAINING SIMULATION!” Keith yelled, and dropped his arms to the ground as the robot was swallowed up. He turned on his back and propped himself up with his forearms, tilting his head up to the ceiling as he took deep breaths. Lance stood quietly, silently cursing himself. He glanced over at Keith, and was met with a glare, but his face softened to a look of resignation and he lay down all the way, burrowing his face in his hands.

“What do you want, Lance?” His voice was muffled. Lance shuffled over to where Keith lay on the ground, and stuck his hand out, offering Keith help. Keith watched carefully through the gaps in his fingers, and moved his hand, gripping Lance’s and pulling himself to a standing position. 

“Thanks.” Keith mumbled, then bent down to pick up his sword that he had dropped after the fight. He moved quietly over to where he had placed an Altean drink pouch and a towel, and sat down on the bench. His fingers shaking slightly, he dropped the straw and silently cursed, dropping down off the bench to hunt for it. His hands had wrapped around it, when he heard Lance’s voice speak up after the long silence.

“So. You like me?”

Keith jolted up so fast before he realized that he was under the bench, and his head whacked against the seat. Scowling and bringing his hand up to prod the tender spot, he slid back out from under the bench and stabbed the straw into the drink, taking a thoughtful slurp.

“Hah! Where did you get that idea from?” He eyed Lance nervously, still sucking on his drink. Lance looked at him with a curious glance, before his face morphed into a smirk.

“Hunk told me.”

Keith squeezed the pouch with his fist, drinking all of the juice that had suddenly been forced up the straw.  _ Hunk was gonna get it.... _

“Hunk, I swear to god…” Keith glared at the doors to the deck, as if his gaze could pass through the metal walls and reach Hunk in the dining room.

“Woah, woah, Keith, calm down, I was just kidding. Hunk didn’t tell me, I figured it out after you left the room! Please don’t kill Hunk, he deserves it the least out of any of us.”

Keith lightly smacked Lance’s arm, and the other boy jumped a little. “Why the hell would you rat on him like that? That’s not a cool move, Lance.”

“Hey! I didn’t know you were gonna get all Terminator on me! I didn’t wanna outright say ‘Hey, so, do you like me? I don’t have anything to back me up so it sounds like I’m just assuming you’re into me, which is kind of cocky, according to Pidge.’” He took a deep breath and sighed. Keith fixed his gaze on the floor.

“Well, since I kind of already admitted it, you already know the answer. Did you just come here to rub it in my face about how you just don’t feel the same?” 

“What? I, no, no, no, no, you’ve got the wrong idea, Keith. I think it's kinda sweet.”

Keith flushed even harder and looked more intently at his boots. “Sweet…” He muttered.

Lance put a hand to his face, groaning. “Look, what I’m trying to say is that it was a little out of the blue for me, but I’m kind of glad you said what you did, I…” He mumbled something at the end, and Keith looked up from his shoes, his cheeks still burning.

“What?”

“I said I like you too! Geeze!” Lance crossed his arm and stared at the ceiling, covering his entire face with his hands. Keith stared at him, not daring to move.

“You… do?”

“Yeah. “

Lance let the last word drop off of his tongue, and the two boys sat in absolute silence. The air was thick with an awkward tension, so thick that neither was able to form a response, for fear of choking. They sat, staring at each other nervously, before Lance leaned his head back with a sharp laugh, bringing his hands up to his face to cover his eyes and muffle his laughter. Keith’s eyes widened, before fixing Lance with a squinty stare.

“Did I miss something? What’s so funny about all this?”

Lance’s body still quaked with giggles, and he took a moment to calm himself down before he could speak.

“This just reminded me of the thing Allura said. Y’know, at breakfast yesterday when we were fighting over that stupid salt shaker.” He shook his head, still struggling to hold down his laughs.

Keith scrunched up his nose and glared at the ceiling, letting his shiny black hair flop into his face. The boy felt the heat of embarrassment from that moment threaten to return again. “About the red and blue paladins ending up together? Don’t remind me of how mortifying that was.”

Lance finally managed to control himself, and looked expectantly at Keith.

“Oh. Yeah.” Before Keith knew it his lips were curled into a smile, and he twisted his head to glance at Lance who was shaking his head again, an amused grin gracing his face.

“It seems like we’ve come full circle. Looks like there’s some merit to that ‘tradition’.” Lance sighed before pushing himself off the bench, his stomach letting out a loud grumble as if on cue. “I’m starving. Let’s go get some breakfast before the others start to get too suspicious.” The blue paladin extended his hand out to Keith, who accepted it much more willingly now that he was in the know. 

This time, after he pulled himself up to standing, he didn’t let go of Lance’s hand. Lance arched one eyebrow up as he glanced at their conjoined fingers, but didn’t let go either. The two walked hand in hand to the exit of the training room, glancing nervously at one another before exiting the area and letting the doors shut with a quiet hiss.


End file.
